Although never having visited Congo, the author has gleaned enough information from reputable sources to produce this very informative introduction to the country and its peoples. With plentiful pictures, maps and diagrams, this is the type of book that you would expect to find in a middle-school or high-school library as one in a series on the countries of the world. Although slightly dated (2004), it covers the geography, history, language and lifestyles of the Congolese quite nicely. Interestingly, the author used "King Leopold's Ghost" by Adam Hochschild (a very good book on the history of Congo) as a starting point for this work.